Of course, it probably helped that her son, Jake Ballard, a tight end for the Giants, was playing in the big game and provided free tickets.

Still, Ballard said, her family has been to a number of BCS bowl games in the past and hadn't seen anything like what they found in Indianapolis.

"This is by far the easier to maneuver around," she said, "and the people are very friendly. Everything has just been great."

Much of the credit for the city's rave reviews, obviously, goes to the local planners and organizers. But some credit also has to go to Mother Nature, karma or whatever you want to call it, for the unexpected and amazing assist of mild weather.

How different would the week have been -- including the overwhelmingly positive impressions the city made on visitors -- if Indianapolis had been blanketed in typical winter weather? Would out-of-towners still be singing the city's praises if they had to wade through snow, were pelted by sleet or stood for hours outside in bone-chilling temperatures?

"I didn't expect this," Frank Tuitt, Denver, said of Sunday's sunny, mild weather. "Certainly not this time of year."

Standing outside the convention center Sunday afternoon, sipping a beverage with a friend, the Boston native and Patriots fan said he would have hunkered down inside until closer to game time if the weather were bad.

Lucas Oil Stadium also drew rave reviews from fans.

"This place is off the scale," said Tom Jones, Lansing, Mich. "On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 15."

Jones said it was the full package that impressed him: comfortable seats, easily accessible restrooms, good sight lines and a cool ambience.

"It was," he said, "very well thought-out."

Byron Wolfe, Cincinnati, agreed.

"Somebody," he said of the stadium's designers, "knew what they were doing."

Wolfe also cited "great sound that didn't leave you with a headache" and enough concession stands to eliminate long lines.

If Indianapolis topped Miami and Dallas as a host city in the minds of some fans, another visitor predicted the 2014 host, East Rutherford, N.J., also won't be able to hold a candle to this year's party.

"There's nothing they could do there to emulate what they've done here," said Brian Slama, a Hoosier who's been living in New Jersey for nearly 20 years.

"They don't have the space around the stadium there, and everything is so spread out. Plus Indianapolis seems safe and clean, and the people are so polite and helpful."